London Frontier's summer show, for Magdalena Old Timers Days and the following weekend, is the premier of Texas playwright Jane Manning's powerful drama of three Western women facing momentous decisions with the courage and fortitude that is their heritage.

A HOME OF HER OWN is actually three plays in one, and the women, appropriately for Old Timers Days, are older women, and – in the first two stories – living in an older time in the West: "Handcart Walkers" is set in the early 1870's, while "Paddy" takes place in the 1930's. The last story, "Good Heavens!" is modern and unspecified in locale, though its heroine is a woman of western upbringing whose life is now anchored with family and career in a city.

Sarah recalls her grueling journey across the plains, on foot in a company of Mormon handcart pioneers, and her dream of having land and a home of her own. Through grit and hard work, she has her ranch, but one bright dream was lost when she had to choose between love and independence. Now, more than 30 years later, that choice has came back to haunt her – and threaten her life.

Leona was born, married, and raised her children on the farm where she now lives alone. Her parents and beloved dog, Paddy, are buried in the little family cemetery on the property. Must she now leave the land? Does "security" mean "safety," or is it a place in the heart?

Carolyn finds herself in a confusing and uncomfortable situation, when her evening out is interrupted by a reckless cab driver. Who's in charge here, and how does she go about taking control of her life again? These are questions we all ask ourselves, and A HOME OF HER OWN presents them movingly, for a mesmerizing theatrical experience.

London Frontier, now in its historic WPA venue and its 13th season in Magdalena, continues to present a wide variety of plays – including the popular "Lost Wife Creek" series – incorporating our vivid multi-culture and history in exciting, entertaining theatre.

Actors in HOME are Ruth Ryan and Donna Todd, of Magdalena, and Fernando Montano, of Socorro. Ron Thornton, of Magdalena, is stage manager, handling lights and sound; director is Holly Krabbe-Modine; and the script is by Jane Manning.

Performances are Friday, July 11 and Saturday, July 12, both at 7:00 PM, with a matinee on Sunday, July 12 at 2:00 PM; also, Saturday, July 19, 7:00 PM, and Sunday, July, 2:00 PM, at Magdalena's historic WPA Theatre, Main at Fourth. Tickets are $3.50 for adults, $2.00 for children, and are available at the door one hour prior to performance, and by Reservation at (575) 854-2519 or londonfrontier@gilanet.com / www.londonfrontiertheatre.com.

This project funded in part by the McCune Foundation of Santa Fe, the Kerr Foundation of Oklahoma, Socorro Electric Cooperative, & LFTC’s "Friends of the Theatre."

---

2008 Season of Plays

OCTOBER 24/25/26 & NOVEMBER 1/2
DARK PATH THROUGH THE WILDERNESS

For Halloween/Dias de los Muertos, let masters of the macabre Edgar Allen Poe & Ambrose Bierce, & New Mexico's own unquiet spirits, lure you down the darkest paths of the soul.

DECEMBER 5/6/7
THE TRAIL OF LONESOME TREE

New Mexico, 1933, Christmas with the Aragones & the Trotters: a lone pine stands sentinel on the open plains; Cass & Manny are lost in a blizzard; & a mysterious stranger, who "rode the rails" to the end of the line, appears in Lost Wife Creek.

 

All performances at Magdalena,s historic WPA Theatre, Main at Fourth St. For further information, updates, and reservations, please visit our website www.londonfrontiertheatre.com or contact us at (575) 854-2519, or londonfrontier@gilanet.com.

Major funding by the Kerr Foundation, the McCune Foundation, USDA "community facilities", Socorro Electric Coop., and LFTC,s "Friends of the Theatre."

---

LONDON FRONTIER THEATRE COMPANY, now in its historic WPA venue and 13th season in Magdalena, presents a wide variety of plays from original scripts, ensemble work, and classic and contemporary writings, incorporating our area's vivid history, legend, and multi-culture to create exciting, entertaining theatre.

---

History of London Frontier Theatre

LFTC's first presentation in New Mexico, STAGECOACH TO DECAMERON (for Magdalena"s Old Timers Days, 1996) was adapted from Boccaccio"s 14th-C. Italian Decameron Tales to the 1870's West. The stories, romantic to madly farcical, played to enthusiastic response.

LONG ROAD, FREE WIND (Nov., '96) dramatized lives of frontier women, while the Feb., '97 show left the West to recreate Dorothy Parker's urbane, witty 1920's New York in YOU MIGHT AS WELL LIVE. THE TREASURE OF MAGDALENA MOUNTAIN (July '97) wove legends of treasure and its seekers with Magdalena's Lady on the Mountain. THAT DAMNED POE was an eerie blend of Poe's life/writings, and '97 ended with THE LONG RIDE OF ST. NICK, (reviewed as) "a darkly different comedy with hauntingly sincere performances." ONE WAGON WEST OF NOWHERE – the adventures, romances, and hilarious misconceptions of two women joining forces to come West – was Old Timers '98 fare. Revived by popular demand in March, 2000, it again played to full houses/ delighted audiences. COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS, JESSEE was '98's nostalgic holiday play.

An entertainment with music, THE LADY THAT"S KNOWN LOU (from R. Service poem) was part of the Spring Arts Festival; WHO SHOT SCOTT? '99) was a farcical play-within-a-play; and 1999's seasonal play, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT! combined legends of Christmas, Chanukah, Winter Solstice, and Navajo dancers in a wildly-funny yet touching re-telling of the Great Story.

Stories by Mark Twain, Bret Harte, and Owen Wister were staged in LEGENDS OF THE LOST FRONTIER (July, 2000). THE DEVIL RODE WEST offered ghostly tales from New Mexico"s Hispanic/Anglo/Navajo lore. November"s dramatization of local author P. V. Ford"s story, IN THE LURCH, received rave reviews; and LONG RIDE returned, with added music, as holiday fare.

Serial theatre began in March, 2001, when the Aragons and Trotters came to life in THE LUCK OF LOST WIFE CREEK, set in 1930's rural NM. Roosevelt"s New Deal has begun; dreams of lost gold, stardom in "talkies" and a Spanish land-grant vie with reality of drought, a n"er-do-well son, and a decrepit old flivver, all rollicking along to bluegrass banjo. LUCK was also Old Timers fare, with an added act of "previews" of upcoming episodes. TREASURE returned, with script development, in Oct., 2001; a review called it "a witty and imaginative piece...well worthy of constant revival." THE TRAIL OF LONESOME TREE: A Lost Wife Creek Christmas was (review) "A lovely play...acting was straight and true....set and lighting excellent and evocative." LOVE COMES TO LOST WIFE CREEK (Feb, 2001), was followed by DON QUIXOTE OF LWC and MAY DAY! ON LWC. July"s play was a satirical Historical Epic, ENCHANTMENT! The series continued in Oct. with DARK MOON OVER LWC, and 2002 ended with WANDERING STAR and LITTLE GLORY, A LWC Christmas.

An expanded version, with ballads, of LONG ROAD, FREE WIND opened the 2003 season and toured, including a benefit performance for the Lincoln Co. Historical Society. For Old Timers, A LAND WITHOUT FENCES mixed tales of the Old West with modern NM and the lives of a boy and his grandmother with Alzheimers. LUCK reappeared in Sept., followed by FIDDLERS HARVEST ON LWC, and a lively new version of GOOD NIGHT! gave a particularly New Mexican slant – Saint, Shepherd, Outlaw, La Llorona, Jewish Elf, and DanceHall Christmas Fairy – to the holiday season. LOVE COMES TO LWC opened the 2004 season, followed by the nostalgic LWC MEMORIES.

STAGECOACH returned in July, to acclaim: "I'm still reeling over your production! What an incredible performance. You just always blow me away but this one definitely was the best! Wow!" (Gwen Roath, Editor, STEPPIN" OUT.) The Dias de los Muertos/Halloween show, FULL WAGON FROM ETERNITY, resurrected NM"s restless ghosts, from Coronado to Kit Carson, O"Keefe to Mabel Dodge Luhan, La Llorona to ancient tribal spirits of the Enchanted Land.

"Small-house, experimental theatre at its best" was a reviewer"s accolade soon after the theatre was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1991. Magdalena"s resident theatre since 1996, LFTC creates and presents a wide variety of plays, adapted to its Western setting, from original scripts, ensemble work, and adaptations of literary classics and contemporary writings, incorporating the area's vivid multi-cultural history to create exciting, entertaining theatre. Presentations are at Magdalena"s historic WPA Gym, which LFTC is in the process of purchasing – a permanent home for London Frontier Theatre Company.